When I started to learn to fly back in April I started to build the Goldberg Super Chipmunk. Once I soloed I feverishly completed my Chippy I learned to fly with this plane (stunts) and fell in love with it (yes we do love our planes) right away. It is by far my favorite plane out of the four in my hanger, Funtana 125 (ARF), P47 Thunderbolt (ARF), and a J3 cup (sig kit). The plane is my rock, wind, cross wind, left or right pattern, just a complete joy to fly. So I set out to find a giant scale chippy that would be my first gas plane. I came across the G&L short kit with fiberglass fuselage and foam wing cores. I have never built a short kit or a foam wing so this was very appealing to me. Time to expand my building technic. The kit came the other day and after inspecting the fuselage it was very well made, very detailed and the glass work looks good. I have started to assemble my build list of what I want to do. Being this is a short kit that only has the fus, cowl, wheel pants, foam wing cores, rudder, and stabilizer everything ells is up to me. It does come with a brief plan showing aileron, flaps, ruder and elevator cut outs and pattern. There is only one bulk head pattern so the rest of the formers, fuel, and servo trays are up to the builder. I really like this kit and the fact that it is a short kit. I did look at the 1/5 Pepsi kit but this would be pretty much the same build as my CG kit.

So far I have decided on the engine, I will be using a DLE 30cc with Pitts muffler. I think this will be good for scale performance; it is not a 3D plane. I am still considering a DLE 55cc but I need to see how it would fit in the cowl and what my finished weight will be. From what I have read the DLE 30 is good up to 16lb for sports flying. The kit says that it will build between 12-14 lb, but is rated up to 18lb so we will see. I will be using ½ Robart struts fixed landing gear. I want to build this plane as scale as I can so the tail section will have pull-pull for ruder inside the fuselage with a torque rod fore rudder (one servo) and a pull-pull for the tail wheel inside the fuselage (one servo). The elevator will be inside the fuselage with two torque rods (two servos, one for each elevator). I will do one servo in each wing panel for ailerons (two servos) concealed in the wing with a hatch. The servo will be mounted to the wing not the hatch. One servo for each wing for flaps done the same way as the ailerons (two servos). One servo for throttle and one for engine kill (two servos). I am limited to seven channels so the ailerons, flaps, and rudder will be on a Y and the elevators will be with a mix.

I have started a build check list (manual) and parts list that I will post as I make them. I ordered all my wood for sheathing the wing, LE, TE, wing tip blocks, plywood for firewall, formers, and trays. Total cost on wood came to $95 threw BUSA. I will post this list once I confirm it is correct. I am trying to find some details so I can try and make this plane as scale as I can, not having any luck on the internet. I want to see the hinge lines, tail wheel and some other details that I can achieve on this kit. The only thing I do not like about this kit is the fiberglass canopy. I have toyed with cutting it off and putting a clear canopy on, tricking out the cockpit with a pilot. But I think I can be ok with painting the glass a tinted color. I Can always go back and cut it out later. I can get a 1/5 clear canopy from the UK for $45 delivered to my door. The fiberglass fuselage will be stronger if I do not cut it off, we’ll see. This build has me very excited and I plan on starting it as soon as the wood gets here. I am shooting for March to maiden the chippy.

Most of you plan is great,
I'm curious though, are you want to build a WWII trainer version or an Airshow plane?
I think the 30 would be fine and get it off the ground and fly it like a trainer,
But if you want good aerobatic ability, not even 3D-able, you'll need more power

Yes this will be a sports stunt plane not a WWII plane. I agree that a 30cc will get it of the ground and fly it around but the 55 will fly it much better so after reviewing the deference's I will go with the DLE 55, 9oz heavier and it will fit just fine.

I would much rather add weight with cc then lead. I am excited about this build and have been brain storming on what I will do on the build. Being I am going to put a 55cc engine in her I will be adding a 1/4" x 30" wing spar for added strength. I am not glassing the wing and stabilizer, just the portion that joins the wing and sits in the fuselage. I will either use ultracoat or solortex or a paintable covering. I want to keep it light.

I started the wing the other day with layout. Servo bays, landing gear blocks, spar, hinges, and control horns. I also glued the stabilizer halves together along with the wing husks. I want to sheath the stabilizer hole. I will start cutting this week. I will sheet the top of the wing first, then install the LG blocks, trench for servo cables then sheath the bottom. Still waiting on wood so I have all week to get ready. Here are a few pic so fare.

I was at Gregs shop the day he completed your kit. I have built the extra 300 72" kit of his and am wanting to build the brown racer and Lazer. gotta have funds first lol. Gregs glass work is some of the best ive seen and there are alot of people who have built and flown his planes say great things about his stuff. Ill be following your progress closely.

I have been working hard on the wing and tail feathers. Funny how a foam wing take just as much time as a built up wing, well maybe not as long. This is my first so I am taking it slow.

I started working on the fuselage making templets of the firewall and bulkheads out of cardboard. I tried fitting the DLE 55 and it is just to big. The cowl would suffer a butchering and it would not look right, it is just to big for this plane. So I will go with my first choice, the DLE 30.

I bent the 1/4 landing gear wire and after doing that I really wanted to find an alternative. One of my mentors suggested making a bracket for the LG. So with the help of Edwin I made a set of aluminum landing gear blocks similar to standard retracts, but fixed. They will install just like you would with a retract.

This will be a much cleaner way to do the LG. The material cost is less then $10 and about two hours of fabricating, very simple. They weigh Only 3 oz, same as the 1/4 wire.

I cut in a 1/4 ply bulkhead and tied in 1/8 ply for sides going from the LE to the 1/4 ply. I then made a mounting block out of 1/4 play and glued it in place. I will make a hatch out of 1/16 ply to cover the LG.

The plans show sheathing the wing then apply the LE and Facing for the ailerons and flaps, butt glued. I will cut the ailerons and flaps and face them before sheathing so the sheathing will be on top of the 3/8 facing. The LE I will butt glue after sheathing. I will do the same with the tail feathers.

I have been trying to weigh parts as I go, fus, wing cores and tail feather. I want to see how what I do effects weight and try and keep it down if I can. All the wood from BUSA is high quality, but heavy. One balsa stick, 3/8x1-1/2 weighed 2 oz, I picked some up from my LHS and the same stick weighed 1/4 oz, softer but for facing it will do just fine.

I glued in all the facing for the elevator and rudder. I found that painters tape works great to mask off the parts I do not want sanded.

I have been working on the wheel assembly and the toque rods for the tail feathers.

Here are some pics of my progress.

I am just starting to sheath the tail and working on getting the wing ready.

Dragon, I am planning on doing the stars and stripes scheme, with an added airbrushing of some graphic art.

I glued the sheathing on the rudder first to see how it all works, never done this before so I wanted to start with something I could easily replace. It turned out great!

So on to more challenging parts, the stabilizer was next. I cut the elevators out and faced the with 3/8 balsa, installed blocks for the torque rod and hinge points. Being this was my first foam wing I have no experience. Some suggested to sheath the wing then cut the ailerons and flaps out after with a band saw, or cut them with a #11 blade.

I chose to prep the elevator and ailerons first so that the facing would be embedded, not face glued. I masked of the surfaces I did not want to get glued and placed it all in the chuck and hoped for the best.

I glued the top first 100lb was just fine. Then I trimmed and glued the bottom on. I used gorilla glue and put wax paper between the husk and the sheathing.

Now the moment of truth. I had marked the location to cut on the top before I glued the bottom. I cut the elevator from the center with my dewalt chop saw, and then cut the elevator free with a #11 blade. It worked great.

I went ahead and tried out the hinge line that I want to do on all the control surfaces. I used the ruder as a test and sample of the covered hinge line. I rounded the ruder by hand being it is tapered. I mark the radiuses’ top and bottom and a line down the middle and on each side to give me a reference point.

After getting the ruder nice and rounded I glued in two triangle pieces of balsa on the receiving end of the fin. I applied some stick on 220 sand paper to the ruder and used this to shape the fin receptacle, this gives you a perfect tapered fit.

Being the center is embedded in the radiuses you have to notch the radius for the range of motion you want. I will be adding more turning on the ruder then the recommended, like to have as much ruder as I can. All in all this worked out great and I will do the same on the rest of the hinge lines

I prepped the wing as I did on the stabilizer, covered all the areas that I do not want glued. The only thing I did deferent is to apply a very tittle bit of Vaseline on the facing where the ailerons meet the wing. This hopefully will make it easier to pull apart after I cut the skin.

After gluing all the skins together and sanding the outer surface I was ready to tackle this monumental stage in this build. I figured it would take two hours per skin so I started at 3:00 with the first top skin. I placed wax paper between the husk and the skin so it would not stick together during gluing. I aligned everything prier and marked it on the husk so I would be close with the alignment. I also made temples of the top and bottom so I could lay this on top after the wing was skinned and mark the servo bays and the ailerons and flaps. I glued the top first and then the bottom. It took me until 10:00 to set the last skin. It all came out very nicely. Next I will trim and apply the LE then cut the ailerons and flaps out, keeping my fingers crossed that it goes as well as the stabilizer did.

This is cool. Somebody that lives in Austin is building a G&L Chipmunk. I also live in Austin and have a G&L Chipmunk short kit which I look forward to building. First I have to finish a couple other projects. Looks like yours is coming along very nicely.

The DLE 55 fit but the muffler was the problem. With a wraparound Pitts muffler it would need to be cut into the cheeks of the cowl. The DLE 30 fits fine with only cooling vents cut in. I will throw a tape on the cowl next time I am working and let you know.

I am using 1/2 robart strait struts. It will be the same set-up as retracts but fixed. The 1/4 wire should provide the give needed if i hit hard. I am working on a collapsible gear that will fold on hard landings in the rough if one had a dead stick.

The aileron and flap cut out of the wing very nicely. I used my chop saw totrue up the ends and faced them with balsa.

So I like to sand, it is a Zen like process. The built up hinge line changes this concept. Really glade I went with 3/32 instead of 1/16 balsa for the sheathing.

I started by rounding off the aileron and flap. I marked the center, the radios and the outer line fir reference. I used a razor plane to get it close then I used a sanding T bar to get it close.

I ripped down various PVC pipe in halve, 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1-1/4, and 1-1/2, and applied adhesive sand paper to theses sanding blocks. This is a good finishing touch to get a perfect radius.

Next I glued triangular balsa to the wing hinge line. Using my dremel and a drum sander I carved it down checking it with the PVC sanding blocks. I applied sand paper to the aileron and finished sanding with the flap and aileron to get a perfect fit. It takes a lot of work to make this type of hinge line but it is well worth it. I am currently working on the elevator to complete all the control surfaces.

I cut in all the servo bays and made the gear covers out of 1/16" ply. Started to glue in the formers and block on the fuselage. Next finish the wing, tips and cut in the spar.

Thanks for checking, maybe a 1/4 scale version would fit the bill. This plane was popular when I stated flying backin 1985, don't see it much today since Goldberg kits left the scene, I put this model on my bucket list.

Tony ,, Greg from G&L ,, I have been beating the bushes and making my kits for almost 20 years !!! When i see someone take one of my kits and build it like you are gives me the greatist thrill of all and makes it all worth while !! Keep up the good work !! Greg Garrison ( G&L Hobbies ) ... www.glhobbies.com